the "clatter" i read about from you the most wise and experianced, is that the "hammer hitting steel" i hear when i switch gears?
the flht is my first harley and i mostly only know what i read from yall. thanks
i can see where the striking knoise is normal.

 

No they are talking about a sound while running along in 5th or 6th gear on a 07 model, they say its a defect, others say its from riding in two high a gear at a to low of RPM, this is known as lugging the motor.

 

The clatter is NOT the clunk heard when shifting. That clunk has been a characteristic of the Harley transmissions for years. Some guys who have not experienced the clattering noise on an 07 like to guess at the causes and blame inexperience and lugging the engine (hell, most of them don't even own an 07 but are think they are experts on them). I am one of the unfortunate owners of a clattering 07. Yes they are right that you can get the sound or one nearly like it when lugging the engine but RPMs over 3+k on a flat road is not lugging the engine. The clatter will sound like a handful of nuts or rocks in the tranny. HD called me from Milwaukee and said they know it is not the tranny but can't figure out what the problem is. It seems to be restricted to the touring models and NOT on the softtails, plus they can produce the noise on any touring bike even if it is not heard initially. They claim the entire development team is working on fixing the problem. I'm not there so I have to take their word for it, but if true that says there is a real defect and NOT lugging as so many self proclaimed experts say. It also says that it is affecting their bottom line and they want a fix to keep the sales going. I know some of these experts have 07's on order. If they get lucky and get a quiet one then they will be struting around like proud peacocks saying "I told you so", but it they get a clattering one then I be they keep their mouths shut and we won't hear a word, not even an "Oops, I'm sorry".

 

I have tried to get a rep etc to call me,even tried leaving my #,they wont take it.I get the take it to your dealer line from C/S.A rep is suppose to ride mine I was told,but we"ll see.This is primary chain noise,either due to failing tensioner,comp sprocket or something else,but its in the primary.My fuse is lit on this problem,the response or lack of from dealer,MOCO,C/S.If I hadnt already bought an 07 tourer,I wouldnt be putting money down as of yet.And you people experiencing these noises should be taking your bikes back,file a complaint at least under your VIN#.

 

pit.and CT,,, Im in the same boat as you,,,, in fact I have found my self zoomin around now instead of my liesurley cruise trying to avoid the noise,,, the hotter the bike gets,{and higher RPMs dont help the heat issue}, the louder the screach/clatter

 

I called the local HD svc dept where I bought my RKC and they gave me the standard line ... that the clatter in fifth gear is caused by the straight cut gear. But I'm not buying it. As I understand it, the transmission is the same as the six-speed tranny in the '06 Dyna and I don't recall any issues about the noise in fifth gear ... nor could I find any threads on the Dyna forum complaining about excessive noise. If it didn't make that noise on the Dyna, then I don't see why my new bike should make that noise now.

FYI, here is a thread from the Dyna forum with a closeup of the trans:

https://www.hdforums.com/m_81407/mpage_1/tm.htm#217691

 

If that's what they say at your service dept. then why doesn't my 06' with the old 5 speed not whine or clatter since all my gears are staight cut gears?

 

I hope the clatter issue gets ironed out. I had my '07 Ultra at the shop yesterday to replace a leaking clutch cable and thought I would mention the clatter. The service advisor said he had not personally dealt with the issue but heard it mentioned on this forum. I got the expected "you are lugging it" reply. I do not believe my sound is coming from the primary. In fact when riding next to a barrier it has reflected back to me fron the right side of the bike pretty strongly. The sound has been there since new but more noticable now. I initially thought is sounded like valve train rocker noise and that is still possible, I can hear it mostly exactly when I don't lug the engine and the motor just starts to coast at steady light throttle from 55-68 MPH. I can still hear it a little past those speeds but it starts to get reduced in volume. When travveling at say 60MPH I can make it go away by adding throttle (loading the engine). There is only one very small area where it will do it in 5'th gear, so this is pretty much exclusive to 6'th.
I am interested in the one post on this subject that claimed when the exhaust was changed the sound was eliminated. I wonder if the exhaust is the culprit. I believe I have changed the sound by repositioning heat shields etc. If I have some time today I was thinking of taking all the heat shieds off and possibly the bracket and seeing if this will do it. I think I will try to duplicate it on my frame lift in the garage.
For all those that are concirned, the whine in 5'th gear is now reduced about 75% after 5,000 miles and 90W140 syn oil--the miles made the most difference though.
For the person who said Harley said they were working on it--who did you call? Can you post contact numbers?

 

Agreed - I"ve owned 5 bikes prior to this one - 3 Jap bikes in the 70's and early 80's (not a fan of AMF's) - and 2 EVO's. All of them had ALL straight-cut gears and not one of them sounded like this in ANY gear.

 

I have two numbers for Harley Davidson corporate offices in Milwaukee:

(414) 342-4680
(414) 481-0184

Ask for customer service. You will need the bike's VIN.

Maybe if enough people call they will begin to take notice.